A Hebrew studies professor from Saudi Arabia has published an article in an Israeli academic publication, the first such occurrence in history.
Prof. Mohammad Ibrahim Alghbban published an article in the academic journal "Kesher" published by the Shalom Rosenfeld Institute for Research of Jewish Media and Communication at Tel Aviv University (TAU).
The article is titled "A Contribution Towards Improving the Image of the Prophet Muhammad in The Eyes of Israeli Public: Muhammad’s Alliances and Mail Exchanges with Jews of The Arabian Peninsula," according to the TAU press release.
Alghbban, head of Hebrew Studies program in the Modern Languages Department at King Saud University in Riyadh, said that Muhammad’s disagreements with Jews were centered around politics, and not religion.
"Incorrect concepts about the history of Islam proposed by Oriental studies in the last century - some of which were written in Hebrew - have led to a misunderstanding of manuscripts, inaccurate methodology, and negative influences on today's Hebrew-speaking Middle Eastern Studies researchers," Alghbban wrote in the article’s introduction.
"Accusing Islam and the Prophet Muhammad of hate speech and racism against Jewish tribes in Hejaz is erroneous. Muhammad treated equally all social groups in Al Madinah and in other places under his control, regardless of race and religion. The misrepresentations in the research are due to the fact that his letters were never translated into Hebrew."
The head of the Shalom Rosenfeld Institute, Prof. Raanan Rein, said the article is "important" for bringing the two nations closer and added, "I hope that this academic cooperation is another step towards economic and political cooperation."
Reprinted from i24NEWS